Chelsea’s chances of a top-four finish took a damaging hit as Andriy Yarmolenko’s late strike ensured relegation-threatened West Ham completed a league double over their London rivals for the first time since 2002/03.
It was a tale of two Antonio’s at the London Stadium, as Antonio Rudiger struggled to get to grips with the physical hold up play of West Ham’s forward Michael Antonio in a battle that underpinned Chelsea’s defensive brittleness.
For much of the first half, these claims looked farfetched as Andreas Christensen dealt well with Antonio’s runs in behind, sweeping up possession and in the whole, ensuring Chelsea consolidated their presence on the ball.
Willian’s penalty then gave The Blues a rather fortuitous lead, as moments earlier, West Ham had seen Tomas Souceck’s finish ruled out for offside.
Whilst the spot-kick was rightfully awarded, it was only the intervention of VAR that had covered up for The Blues’s lack of organisation from set-pieces and on the stroke of half time, they were punished as Soucek once again broke free, this time to head home the equalising goal.
West Ham pushed ahead for a second goal after half time, and they found it through Antonio, the forward tapping home Jarrod Bowen’s cross. A driving run from Pulisic may have allowed Willian to curl in a sumptuous free-kick to draw the sides level once more but just as Chelsea began to regain control of the game, a swift counter-attack led to Yarmolenko picking out the bottom corner with a well placed left-foot finish.
Here’s how we rated Chelsea’s players after the game.
